Death is dry

drier than I expected

(Though I did not expect to die)

It leaches every last drop of joy and hope from my bones

and bleaches them white

white as death

I am decomposed

unmade from what I once was

I try to breathe

but even the air is laced with sand and dust

and death

I think that I cannot resist this death

the dying

this drying up of life

I relinquish my hope

to let it buried here with my bones

covered over in dust

blown by the wind in timeless death across this dry valley

…

But you,

you will not let me go

not even in death

The urgent pounding of your footsteps shakes the ground beneath my dead, dry bones

as you rush to kneel by my side

You brush the dust from off my face with gentle fingertips

Your strong arms lift me from the desert floor

in a warm embrace against your beating heart

You press me to your beating heart

the steady rhythm breaks the silence

You smell of life

of rain and things that grow

of thick, dark soil

You smell of clouds

of sunshine

of laughter

Drawing me closer, you place your lips against my own

and breathe into my body

you breathe your breath into my lungs

My dead heart stirs

It cannot be

the dead, they do not live again

Yet over my dead bones, sinews creep

across the sinew, muscle spreads

and over muscle, new flesh wraps like healing bandages

Through it all pumps blood and breath

in the steady rhythm of your heart

Our two hearts beat as one

I am restored

I am restored.